From Aaron Rodgers to Greg Norman and a Trio of Number Ones, Ranking Men of the Year, So Far

Golf's off-course drama has been unending, but Gary Van Sickle isn't forgetting the three stars who have traded the No. 1 ranking.

We are surprisingly close to the halfway mark of the PGA Tour’s final (aww!) wraparound season. Who is the leading contender for The Ranking’s Man of the Year Award, emblematic of supreme influence and assorted other socio-economic metrics?

It’s all very scientific and data-driven, naturally, thanks to our Radio Shack Tandy 1000 and its state of the art floppy-disk technology. Here’s how The Ranking views the current crop of candidates at the season’s almost-mid-point …

Rory McIlroy, Greg Norman, Jay Monahan and Aaron Rodgers (clockwise from top left) are all on Gary Van Sickle's ballot / USA TODAY Sports

10. The Bagger of Sand

The longtime quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, Aaron Rodgers, looked more like a Green Bay Padder when he and pro partner Ben Silverman won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Rodgers played off a 10 handicap, a full seven shots more than his regular 3. And you thought the inflation of egg prices was bad? Rodgers got a 10 from tourney officials apparently because he played as a 9 in two previous appearances, missed the cut and couldn’t play on Sunday. (That sound familiar to anyone in Titletown, USA?) Except Rodgers competed against other celebrity pros last summer as a 5 and finished ninth. “His handicap was crap,” tour pro Keith Mitchell said. “I think Josh (Allen, Buffalo’s quarterback) and I won.” No, Keith, the Buffalo Bills never win. But point taken.

9. Commissar Shark

The PGA Tour players who defected to LIV Golf had one thing in common—they all copped attitudes, understandable after they faced public criticism. LIV Golf commish Greg Norman seems like a guy with a chip on his shoulder, maybe that’s understandable, too, but he seldom can let a slight go past without comment. Rory McIlroy made some recent anti-LIV comments and Norman returned fire: “Rory doesn’t know what he’s talking about with LIV because he doesn’t know the facts. My advice would be to sit back, take stock, watch what happens and watch what you say.” Seems like that advice could work both ways.

8. The Voice of Dissent

The first player to criticize the PGA Tour’s elevated-events system, which opened to gushing reviews from the top players who will benefit most from a handful of limited-field, no-cut, big-money events was James Hahn, a former member of the players’ advisory board. Hahn’s top bomb-worthy comments to Golfweek: “If our players said, We’re doing this for the money, I would have a lot more respect for them … We’re not spending money to provide the best playing experience for our members … The majority of the membership, we’ve lost our power to the elite (players) running the show … We should never have gone to $100 million (Player Impact Program). It was a $50 million mistake. We were funneling money to this small group of people because they were demanding it. We wasted it on 10 people. That’s not how the PGA Tour should be run.”

When Arnold Palmer called a meeting in the ‘90s to shut down talk of the super-tour proposed by Greg Norman, he said he and Jack Nicklaus helped create the PGA Tour “so it would be equitable for all, not just for some.” What would Arnie think? Would he agree with Hahn?

7. The Iron Horse

Nobody has played so well for so long as two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer. The PGA Tour Champions circuit gets so little attention these days that it could replace the FBI Witness Protection Program. Even the Associated Press barely gives it a courtesy wave. But Langer is singlehandedly bringing the limelight. He has 45 senior victories, tying the tour mark set by Hale Irwin, and at last week’s Hoag Classic, he had a shot at historic No. 46. Langer led after 36 holes but five bogeys and a closing 73 sank him. Ernie Els shot 65-66 on the weekend to snatch the victory, his first in three years. And the second-most interesting thing about the senior tour after Langer is …

4, 5 and 6. The World No. 1s

Welcome to the field entry of Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler, the men who have been passing around the No. 1 ranking like a tray of hors d’oeuvres (an annoying word that doesn’t look right no matter what Mr. Spellcheck says). McIlroy reclaimed the top spot (for the ninth time, by the way) when he won last fall’s CJ Cup. Rahm won three times in 2023 and finally snatched back No. 1 in early March. Scheffler moved up after his Players Championship win. Besides battling for No. 1, these three golfers have separated themselves from the rest as golf’s elite (sorry about that, Justin Thomas, but you’d better step it up), and could be considered the game’s three most popular players not named Tiger Woods (sorry, Justin, try smiling more and complaining less). McIlroy has become a leader among tour players in the movement to rebuff LIV Golf. Scheffler and Rahm seem authentically likable, mostly normal and relatable. They aren’t a Big Three yet but they’re a hot Neapolitan swirl.

3. The Answer Man

This question comes from PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan: What percentage of the top 30 players compete against each other in major championships? Ninety-five percent. How many compete, on average, in other tour events? Less than 40 percent, Monahan said. Those questions and answers led him and the tour’s policy board to create elevated events, some with limited fields of 70-80 players, no cuts and big purses ($20-$25 million) for 2024. The tour’s top players love the idea. The players on the outside-looking-in aren’t so sure. No matter what, Monahan has found a way to deliver 16 tournaments with all of the tour’s top players—a plus for TV, fans, sponsors of those tournaments and the invited players. How it plays out and whether creating more top events eventually outweighs minimizing the non-elevated events remains to be seen. But it’s a big, big deal and Monahan made it happen.

2. The Governors

The average golf fan might not be familiar with Michael Whan, former commissioner of the LPGA and now head of the United States Golf Association, and Martin Slumbers, head of the R&A. They lead the game’s two governing bodies and dropped a bombshell last week when they announced plans to introduce a modified local rule in 2026 that limits a golf ball’s liveliness. The proposal sparked a heated, long-simmering controversy about the distances that modern players launch the ball. Basically, it means that tour pros and other elite players will use a different ball, one that doesn’t travel quite as far, than recreational amateur players. This controversy has only just begun and Whan and Slumbers may go down in history as saviors of the modern game or … just the opposite. In a nutshell: Surprise! Somebody finally did something (or is trying to) about the ball.

1. The Needle.

His name is Tiger Woods. He has played in one tournament in 2023 and finished 45th. Any questions?